Forest Stewardship

Forestland on Whidbey is one of our prized natural resources. Our 52 mile island highway is lined with trees almost the entire way. Nestled in the woods are many houses, shops, and businesses, all cozy and hidden in evergreen privacy. At the Conservation District, we are here to support Whidbey landowners in sustainably managing and conserving private forestland for future generations to enjoy.

Forest stewardship means recognizing that a healthy forest is about more than trees – our forests are an interactive community of plants, animals, soil, and water. If you’re a forest landowner, you may enjoy your forest property daily as a permanent residence, or you may own it as a family investment. Either way, when you walk your forest, questions can understandably come up. Is your forest healthy? How can it be managed to ensure it’s health into the future?

To get started, check out our top three resource guides linked below, which have been tailored specifically to what's relevant and helpful to you as a small forest landowner on Whidbey Island based on our work with landowners in recent years.

Forest Stewardship Starter Guides

Click to open Starter Tips Guide

Forest Stewardship: Starter Tips 
As a small forest landowner, there are five key things you should consider when evaluating how you'd like to manage your forest. Learn more about these important subjects and get connected to the organizations and resources that can help you better learn about your land.  

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Click to open Forest Programs Guide

Forest Programs & Resources
There are many local, state, and federal programs, resources, and forestry professionals who are available to assist you with achieving your forest stewardship goals. Strengthen your network by checking out this publication, which features information on everything from education classes and forest planning assistance to financial incentives for managed forests and easement opportunities.

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Click to open Designated Forest Guide

"Designated" Forest Land
As a way to encourage sound forestry practices and conserve healthy, working forests in Washington state, many counties offer landowners the option to have their land designated as forests. This designation often results in lower assessed value, and lower taxes, on a property. But with this
designation comes responsible stewardship. Learn if your property is eligible for Island County's Designated Forest Land Program.

After you've consulted our top resources above, and as you're beginning to identify or refine your forest stewardship goals, you may need assistance learning how to realize those goals. We offer referrals and support for all forest landowners on Whidbey Island. Please contact our office at (888) 678-4922 or fill out the form below with your specific forest stewardship questions, and we can provide resources and referrals to help you get started.

Request Resources

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Island County Assessor’s

Designated Forest Land Program 

If you are a current landowner of forest property, and you would like assistance with:

• Entering the DFL program
• Staying in compliance with the DFL program

The conservation district provides free, non-regulatory technical assistance to landowners who qualify for the DFL program. Learn more about the DFL program here.

​If you’d like to request forest plan assistance, please contact our office at (888) 678-4922 or fill out the form below to be contacted by a natural resource planner.
​
Please keep in mind that we can only create forest plans for landowners who currently own their forestland. 

Request Forest Plan Assistance

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“This is tree-growin’ country! I think people that make a living in a resource or with a resource have to think: How’s it going to be in 20 years? I want to still be doing this, and how is that going to happen?”

Forest Resources

Click a Tab Below for More Resources:

WSU  Ext.  FoRestry & WA Dept. of Natural Resources

WSU Extension Forestry

 Washington State University Extension's Puget Sound Forest Stewardship Program has a host of fantastic forestry education and landowner resources. To read an overview of the programs and services of the WSU Extension Forestry Program, click here.

Program Contact for Additional Questions:
​Click here for direct access to a list of the WSU Extension Forestry Program contacts.

WICD is often asked: Who can I get to assist me in developing a forest management plan if Whidbey Island Conservation District staff are unavailable? WSU Extension Forestry has developed and maintains a "Forester & Silvicultural Contractor Directory" for landowners in the Puget Sound region. A consulting forester provides professional forest management services to landowners, while a silvicultural contractor provides the labor and equipment to perform forest management tasks, including site preparation, tree planting, vegetation control, pre-commercial thinning, slash disposal, etc. This searchable online directory is state-wide in scope and up-to-date. You can hire a consulting forester to help you develop your forest management plan.

Here are some additional resources worth exploring:

• Visit the WSU Extension Forestry North Puget Sound Region homepage at http://forestry.wsu.edu/nps/
• WSU Forestry has a host of online learning modules 
• Check out upcoming forestry classes
• Check out the extensive forestry resource online library
• Sign up for the ​WSU Extension Puget Sound Forest Stewardship E-Newsletter
• ​Check out WSU Ext.'s YouTube Forestry Channel​​​

WA Dept. of Natural Resources

Small Forest Landowner Field

​Office

Washington State Department of Natural Resources maintains a Small Forest Landowner Office where they seek to provide you and other family forest owners with technical and financial assistance that helps you meet your objectives for your forest lands. Contact a Stewardship Forester for added guidance and professional expertise that compliment partners like the WSU Extension Forestry and local conservation district planning staff.

Program Contact for Additional Stewardship Related Questions:
Matt Provencher
Stewardship Forester
360-902-1494
​matthew.provencher@dnr.wa.gov 

Here are some additional resources worth exploring:

• Visit the WA DNR Small Forest Landowner Office homepage at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/sflo
• Forest Stewardship & Technical Assistance Foresters are available for consultation by phone, email, and, if you own 10 or more acres, through an in-person site visit - contact information by region can be found here
• You can learn about DNR financial assistance programs by clicking here
• If you have questions about timber management and harvest, you can learn more at DNR's Technical Assistance page here 
• To learn more about the forest practices permitting process, click here or read the abbreviated Forest Practices Illustrated Guide designed to help forest owners, loggers, and others better understand Washington State Forest Practices Rules and how they protect fish, water, wildlife, state, and municipal capital improvements and other public resources. 
• Check out DNR's Forest Health Resources page

WA Dept. of Natural Resources

​Forest Practices Permitting

Washington State Department of Natural Resources offers phone consultation from their Small Forest Landowner Regulation Assistance Foresters on questions you may have related to the details of forest practices permitting. If you're a forest land owner and are contemplating or preparing for any type of forest practice, such as thinning your trees to gain income, or a final harvest of a stand of trees, you'll want to contact a forest practices permitting forester to provide you with guidance on executing your forest practice successfully.  Two contacts, one regionally based and one state-wide based, are helpful DNR Forest Practices Forester contacts below you can reach out to. Be sure, too, to check out the Forest Practices Illustrated Guide for a good orientation to your responsibilities are a forest landowner in accomplishing forest practices on your land.

Program Contact for Forest Practices Permitting Questions:
Bud Wescott
Forest Practices Forester
Based out of the DNR Sedro-Wooley office
bud.wescott@dnr.wa.gov 

Todd Olson
Regulation Assistance Forester
Based out of the DNR Olympia office
(360) 902-1029
todd.olson@dnr.wa.gov

forest stewardship resources

Forest Stewardship Resources

If you are looking for a consulting forester, logger, reforestation expert, or another forestry professional to assist you with the management of your forest, consider searching the WSU Extension Forestry Consulting Directory. Click here to learn more.

Introduction to Forest Ecology & Stewardship

• Forest Ecology in Washington
• Backyard Forestry in Western Washington​
• Stewardship Handbook for Family Forest Owners
• Assessing Forest Health
• ​​WSU Extension Forestry Resources Library by Topic​
• Forest Stewardship Workbook

Forest Management for SILVICULTURE/TIMBER

• ​Silviculture for Washington Family Forests
• ​A Primer on Timber Harvest
• Managing a Timber Sale
• ​Tree Growth, Forest Management & Implications on Wood Quality
• ​WA Dept. of Natural Resources Forest Practices Illustrated Guide
• ​Thinning: An Important Timber Management Tool
• ​​Guidelines for Precommercial Thinning of Douglas Fir
• Hardwood Management Resources
• Management Options for Declining Red Alder Forests
• ​Planting Forest Seedlings
• ​The Care & Planting of Tree Seedlings on Your Woodland
• ​Successful Reforestation: An Overview
• ​Sources for Forestry Supplies & Materials
• Laminated Root Rot in Western North America - Management Strategies
• ​WA Dept. of Revenue Designated Forest Land Program
• ​WA Dept. of Revenue Guidelines for Timber Plan

Forest Management for WILDLIFE

• WDFW Living with Wildlife Resources
• ​Westside Douglas Fir Forests & Wildlife
• ​Diversifying Forest Structure to Promote Wildlife Biodiversity​
• Some Introductory Wildlife Tips from Ken Bevis, DNR Wildlife Biologist

Forest Management for WILDFIRE RISK REDUCTION

• ​​Reducing Fire Risk on Your Forest Property (Check out WICD's Firewise resources)

Forest Management for CLIMATE ADAPTATION

• Video Presentations from ​​Northwest Natural Resource Group's Climate Adaptation Strategies for Pacific Northwest Forests
• Introduction to Climate Adaptation Resources white paper
  
• Climate Adaptation Resources from Northwest Natural Resource Group
• Seedlot Selection GIS Mapping Tool

FEDERAL FUNDING ASSISTANCE for Forest Landowners

USDA Natural Resources

​Conservation Service

E.Q.I.P. 

United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service is a federal agency with field offices located throughout Washington state to assist in voluntary conservation on rural lands. NRCS offers many voluntary programs to eligible landowners and agricultural producers to provide financial and technical assistance to help manage natural resources in a sustainable manner. Through these programs, the agency approves contracts to provide financial assistance to help plan and implement conservation practices that address natural resource concerns or opportunities to help save energy, improve soil, water, plant, air, animal and related resources on agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest land.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides eligible forest landowners who have an approved forest plan an opportunity to access funding assistance to help implement certain approved forest management practices on their property. If you are interested in this opportunity and wish to learn more if your property and management practices may be eligible for EQIP,  contact the NRCS Forester who serves Island County residents - Kathy Smith - by calling the Mt. Vernon NRCS Field Office phone at (360) 428-7684 and requesting to speak with Kathy.

• To visit the EQIP FAQ page, click here.
• ​To learn more about how to sign-up for EQIP, click here.

Whidbey Island's closest USDA NRCS field office is in Mt. Vernon near the Skagit Valley College campus.

• Office Phone: (360) 428-7684
• Contact: Kathy Smith, Forester - kathryn.e.smith@usda.gov
• Office Address: 2021 E. College Way, Suite 214, Mt. Vernon, WA 98273 

COUNTY tax incentive Programs for Forest Landowners

Washington Dept. of Revenue &
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Island County Assessor Dept.


​Designated Forest Land Program

Washington State encourages sound forestry practices so that present and future generations can enjoy the many benefits they provide. In addition to scenic and recreational spaces, healthy forests provide: an enhanced water supply; reduced soil erosion, storm and flood control damage; habitat for wild game; employment opportunities; raw materials for products.

As a way to encourage commercial forestry in Washington State, landowners may choose to have their land designated as forest land. This designated often results in a lower assessed value and lower taxes. Specific requirements must be met to qualify for this designation. The Designated Forest Land Program is managed by the Island County Assessor's Department and is a program overseen by the Washington State Department of Revenue. 

To be eligible to apply, a property must be five (5) or more acres or multiple parcels of land that are contiguous and total five or more acres that is or are devoted primarily to the growing and harvesting of timber. Designated forest land means the land only and does not include a residential home site. The term includes land used for incidental uses that are compatible with the growing and harvesting of timber, but no more than ten percent (10%) of the land may be used for such incidental uses. It also includes the land on which appurtenances necessary for the production, preparation, or sale of the timber products exist in conjunction with land producing these products. To learn more about whether your forest property can qualify, click here. ​

To be directed to the Island County Assessor Current Use Exemptions page, where you can access the Designated Forest Land Program application forms, continuance forms, and other resources, click here.

Designated Forest Land Contact at Island County:
Nicole Wheat
Current Use Appraiser
​n.wheat@islandcountywa.gov
(360) 678-7853

Island County Planning Dept.

​Public Benefit Open Space

​ Rating System

The Public Benefit Open Space Rating System is part of the Open Space Taxation Act, too, and is administered by the Island County Planning Department. As shared above, the Open Space Taxation Act, enacted in 1970, allows property owners to have their open space valued at their current use rather than at their highest and best use. The Act states that it is in the best interest of the state to maintain, preserve, conserve, and otherwise continue in existence adequate open space lands for the production of food, fiber, and forest crops and to assure the use and enjoyment of natural resources and scenic beauty for the economic and social well-being of the state and its citizens.

Island County Code Chapter 3.40, in addition to state law, governs the Public Benefits Rating System (PBRS) program in Island County. To have your property enrolled in the PBRS program, visit the Island County PBRS homepage by clicking here.

​To be eligible to apply to PBRS, a property must be at least five (5) acres in size and contain at least one (1) open space resource. If a property includes a residence, a minimum of one (1) acre of the property, inclusive of the home-site, will not be eligible for PBRS enrollment. Read the reference guide below to learn more about open space resources. Unlike the Farm and Agriculture classification administered by the Island County Assessor, there are no income requirements for this program, rather, what open space elements are present on the property contribute to a point value that ultimately leads to a specific reduced valuation if your application is accepted. 
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• Click here to view the PBRS application packet.
• Click here to view the reference guide that accompanies the PBRS application packet.

Public Benefit Rating System Contact at Island County:
Jonathan Lange
Long Range Planner
j.lange@islandcountywa.gov
(360) 678-7821

Tansy Schroeder
Planner - Land Use/Shoreline
t.schroeder@islandcountywa.gov
(360) 678-7822